Robert Ludlum

Born May 25, 1927

New York City, New York, U.S.
Died March 12, 2001 (aged 73)
Naples, Florida, U.S.
Pen name J onathan Ryder, Michael
Shepherd
Occupation Novelist
Genres Thriller, spy fiction, mystery
Notable
work(s)
The Bourne Trilogy
Spouse(s)
Mary Ryducha
[1]
Children 3 (two sons and a daughter)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Ludlum (May 25, 1927 March 12, 2001) was an
American author of 27 thriller novels. The number of copies
of his books in print is estimated between 290 million and
500 million.
[2][3][4]
They have been published in 33
languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books
under the pseudonyms J onathan Ryder and Michael
Shepherd.
[5]
1 Life and career
1.1 Writing analysis and criticism
2 Selected bibliography
2.1 By Ludlum, published during the author's
lifetime
2.2 Credited to Ludlum, published
posthumously
2.3 Covert-One series
2.4 J anson series
2.5 Sequels to Ludlum books
3 Filmography
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Ludlum was born in New York City, the son of Margaret (ne Wadsworth) and George Hartford Ludlum.
[6]
His
maternal grandparents were English.
[7]
He was educated at The Rectory School then Cheshire Academy and
Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. While at Wesleyan, Ludlum joined the Alpha Delta Phi
fraternity. After becoming an author later in life, Ludlum would set his mystery novel Matlock Paper at the
fictitious Carlyle University in Connecticut, a thinly-disguised Wesleyan.
[8][9]
Prior to becoming an author, he had been a United States Marine,
[10][11]
a theatrical actor and producer. His
theatrical experience may have contributed to his understanding of the energy, escapism and action that the
public wanted in a novel. He once remarked: "I equate suspense and good theater in a very similar way. I think
Robert Ludlum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ludlum
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it's all suspense and what-happens-next. From that point of view, yes, I guess, I am theatrical."
[12]
Many of
Ludlum's novels have been made into films and mini-series, including The Osterman Weekend, The Holcroft
Covenant, The Apocalypse Watch, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum.
Covert One: The Hades Factor, a book co-written with Gayle Lynds, was originally conceived as a mini-series;
the book evolved from a short treatment Ludlum wrote for NBC. The Bourne movies, starring Matt Damon in
the title role, have been commercially and critically successful (The Bourne Ultimatum won three Academy
Awards in 2008), although the story lines depart significantly from the source material.
During the 1970s, Ludlum lived in Leonia, New J ersey, where he spent hours each day writing in his home.
[13]
Ludlum died on March 12, 2001, at his home in Naples, Florida, whilst recovering from severe burns caused by
a mysterious fire which occurred on February 10.
[14][15][16]
Writing analysis and criticism
Ludlum's novels typically feature one heroic man, or a small group of crusading individuals, in a struggle
against powerful adversaries whose intentions and motivations are evil and who are capable of using political
and economic mechanisms in frightening ways. The world in his writings is one where global corporations,
shadowy military forces and government organizations all conspire to preserve (if it is good) or undermine (if it
is evil) the status quo.
Ludlum's novels were often inspired by conspiracy theories, both historical and contemporary. He wrote that
The Matarese Circle was inspired by rumors about the Trilateral Commission, and it was published only a few
years after the commission was founded. His depictions of terrorism in books such as The Holcroft Covenant
and The Matarese Circle reflected the theory that terrorists, rather than being merely isolated bands of
ideologically motivated extremists, are actually pawns of governments or private organizations who are using
them to facilitate the establishment of authoritarian rule.
Ludlum used the same fixed titling pattern of The [Proper Noun] [Noun] (where the proper noun functions as a
noun adjunct) for most of his books. Subsequent to his death, books written by other authors have carried the
phrase Robert Ludlum
TM
on their covers, thus asserting the name Robert Ludlum as a trademark. The actual
author (not technically a ghost writer) is identified inside.
By Ludlum, published during the author's lifetime
The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971)
The Osterman Weekend (1972)
The Matlock Paper (1973)
Trevayne (1973, writing under the pen-name J onathan Ryder)
The Cry of the Halidon (1974, writing under the pen-name J onathan Ryder)
The Rhinemann Exchange (1974)
The Road to Gandolfo (1975, writing under the pen-name Michael Shepherd)
The Gemini Contenders (1976)
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The Chancellor Manuscript (1977)
The Holcroft Covenant (1978)
The Matarese Circle (1979)
The Bourne Identity (1980)
The Parsifal Mosaic (1982)
The Aquitaine Progression (1984)
The Bourne Supremacy (1986)
The Icarus Agenda (1988)
The Bourne Ultimatum (1990)
The Road to Omaha (1992)
The Scorpio Illusion (1993)
The Apocalypse Watch (1995)
The Matarese Countdown (1997)
The Prometheus Deception (2000)
Credited to Ludlum, published posthumously
The Sigma Protocol (2001, the last novel written entirely by Ludlum)
The Janson Directive (2002)
The Tristan Betrayal (2003)
The Ambler Warning (2005)
The Bancroft Strategy (2006)
Covert-One series
Written by other authors.
The Hades Factor (by Gayle Lynds) (2000) 1.
The Cassandra Compact (by Philip Shelby) (2001) 2.
The Paris Option (by Gayle Lynds) (2002) 3.
The Altman Code (by Gayle Lynds) (2003) 4.
The Lazarus Vendetta (by Patrick Larkin) (2004) 5.
The Moscow Vector (by Patrick Larkin) (2005) 6.
The Arctic Event (by J ames H. Cobb) (2007) 7.
The Ares Decision (by Kyle Mills) (2011) 8.
The Janus Reprisal (by J amie Freveletti) (2012) 9.
The Utopia Experiment (by Kyle Mills) (2013) 10.
Janson series
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The Janson Directive (2002)
The Janson Command (by Paul Garrison) (2012)
The Janson Option (by Paul Garrison) (2014)
The Janson Equation (by Douglas Corleone) (2015)
[17]
Sequels to Ludlum books
The Bourne Legacy (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2004)
The Bourne Betrayal (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2007)
The Bourne Sanction (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2008)
The Bourne Deception (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2009)
The Bourne Objective (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2010)
The Bourne Dominion (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2011)
The Bourne Imperative (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2012)
The Bourne Retribution (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2013)
The Bourne Ascendancy (by Eric Van Lustbader) (2014)
Some of Ludlum's novels have been made into films and mini-series, although the story lines might depart
significantly from the source material. In general, a miniseries is more faithful to the original novel on which it
is based.
1977 The Rhinemann Exchange miniseries Stephen Collins as David Spaulding, Lauren Hutton as
Leslie J enner Hawkewood
1983 The Osterman Weekend film Rutger Hauer as J ohn Tanner, Sam Peckinpah directed
1985 The Holcroft Covenant film Michael Caine as Noel Holcroft
1988 The Bourne Identity miniseries Richard Chamberlain as J ason Bourne, J aclyn Smith as
Marie St. J acques
1997 The Apocalypse Watch miniseries Patrick Bergin as Drew Latham
2002 The Bourne Identity film Matt Damon as J ason Bourne and Franka Potente as Marie Helena
Kreutz
2004 The Bourne Supremacy film Matt Damon as J ason Bourne
2006 Covert One: The Hades Factor miniseries Stephen Dorff as J on Smith
2007 The Bourne Ultimatum film Matt Damon as J ason Bourne
2012 - The Bourne Legacy - film - starring J eremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton
TBA The Matarese Circle film Denzel Washington as Brandon Scofield
1
TBA The Chancellor Manuscript film Leonardo DiCaprio as Peter Chancellor
1
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1
announced/in development
Spy fiction
Airport novel
Publishers Weekly lists of bestselling novels in the United States
^ Williams, J ohn (14 March 2001). "Robert Ludlum" (http://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/mar/14
/guardianobituaries.books). theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
1.
^ Ludlum, Robert, Prometheus Deception. Preface by the publisher, Orion Publishing. 2.
^ "The Ludlum conspiracy" (http://www.legacy.com/ns/news-story.aspx?t=the-ludlum-conspiracy&id=277) at
Legacy.com.
3.
^ Kearns, Kenneth (March 6, 2011). "The Ludlum Conspiracy" (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1363110
/The-Ludlum-Conspiracy-Was-master-storyteller-creator-blockbuster-Bourne-movies-murdered-gold-digging-
wife.html?ito=feeds-newsxml). Daily Mail (London).
4.
^ Robert Ludlum (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ludlum.htm) at Kirjasto.sci.fi. 5.
^ [1] (http://books.google.ca/books?id=iU9-UCNiiFkC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&
dq=Margaret+Wadsworth+George+Hartford+Ludlum&source=bl&ots=k8f6ekKkMB&
sig=xAo8EqkAd2LAU994o06f3W2rpZA&hl=en)
6.
^ "Ludlum" (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~celebrities/ludlum.html) at
Genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com.
7.
^ "United Kingdom" (http://topics.dallasnews.com/article/05DjdrucY53jX?q=United+Kingdom) at Dallasnews.com. 8.
^ "Robert Ludlum" (http://soccer.msg.com/article/05DjdrucY53jX?q=Robert+Ludlum) at Soccer.msg.com. 9.
^ Adrian, J ack (March 4, 2001). "Obituary: Robert Ludlum". The Independent. 10.
^ "List of notable United States Marines". Wikipedia. 11.
^ http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ludlum.htm 12.
^ Klemsrud, J udy. "Behind the Best Sellers: Robert Ludlum" (http://select.nytimes.com
/gst/abstract.html?res=F20816FC3D5D147A93C2A8178CD85F438785F9), The New York Times, J uly 10, 1977.
Retrieved March 30, 2011. "He writes for six or seven hours in an office in his house in Leonia."
13.
^ "The Times obituary Robert Ludlum" (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2262997.ece).
The Times (London). August 15, 2007.
14.
^ Kearns, Kenneth (March 6, 2011). "The Ludlum Conspiracy: Was the master storyteller and creator of the
blockbuster Bourne movies murdered by his gold-digging wife?" (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1363110
/The-Ludlum-Conspiracy-Was-master-storyteller-creator-blockbuster-Bourne-movies-murdered-gold-digging-
wife.html?ito=feeds-newsxml). Daily Mail (London).
15.
^ "The Robert Ludlum controversy: nephew raises questions about top thriller writer's death"
(http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-robert-ludlum-controversy-nephew-raises-questions-about-
top-thriller-writers-death/story-e6frg6so-1226009074660). The Australian. February 21, 2011.
16.
Robert Ludlum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ludlum
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^ Cogdill, Oline. "Douglas Corleone and Robert Ludlum" (http://www.mysteryscenemag.com
/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3386:douglas-corleone-and-robert-ludlum&catid=54:reviews&
Itemid=187). Mystery Scene Magazine. Mystery Scene Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
17.
Official Robert Ludlum website (http://robert-ludlum.com)
Robert Ludlum (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0524924/) at the Internet Movie Database
Robert Ludlum (http://www.iblist.com/author.php?id=671) at the Internet Book List
Works by or about Robert Ludlum (http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n79-147847) in libraries (WorldCat
catalog)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Ludlum&oldid=608729026"
Categories: 1927 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists
American spy fiction writers American thriller writers Cardiovascular disease deaths in Florida
Deaths from myocardial infarction People from Leonia, New J ersey Robert Ludlum
United States Marines Wesleyan University alumni Writers from New York City Postmodern writers
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